Certain texaphyrin compounds are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,498, 5,162,509, 5,252,720, 5,272,142 and 5,256,399, each of which is incorporated by reference herein. "Texaphyrin" refers to a particular "expanded porphyrin" pentadentate macrocyclic ligand. The compound is capable of existing in both its free-base form and of supporting the formation of a 1:1 complex with a variety of metal cations, such as Cd.sup.2+, Hg.sup.2+, In.sup.3+, Y.sup.3+, Nd.sup.3+, Eu.sup.3+, Sm.sup.3+, La.sup.3+, Lu.sup.3+, Gd.sup.3+, and other cations of the lanthanide series that are too large to be accommodated in a stable fashion within the 20% smaller tetradentate binding core of the well-studied porphyrins.
Large, or "expanded" porphyrin-like systems are of interest for several reasons: They could serve as aromatic analogues of the better studied porphyrins or serve as biomimetic models for these or other naturally occurring pyrrole-containing systems. In addition, large pyrrole-containing systems offer possibilities as novel metal binding macrocycles. For instance, suitably designed systems could act as versatile ligands capable of binding larger metal cations and/or stabilizing higher coordination geometries than those routinely accommodated within the normally tetradentate ca. 2.0 .ANG. radius porphyrin core. The resulting complexes could have important application in the area of heavy metal chelation therapy, serve as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications, act as vehicles for radioimmunological labeling work, or serve as new systems for extending the range and scope of coordination chemistry.
The desirable properties of texaphyrins are:
1) appreciable solubility, particularly in aqueous media;
2) biolocalization in desired target tissue;
3) low intrinsic toxicity;
4) the ability to attach to solid matrices;
5) the ability to be attached to biomolecules;
6) efficient chelation of divalent and trivalent metal cations;
7) absorption of light in the physiologically important region of 690-880 nm;
8) high chemical stability;
9) ability to stabilize diamagnetic complexes that form long-lived triplet states in high yield and that act as efficient photosensitizers for the formation of singlet oxygen;
10) ability to chelate Gd(III) for magnetic resonance imaging;
11) a redox potential lower than that of oxygen for use as a radiosensitizer.
One of the disadvantages of the texaphyrin metal complexes of prior patents is their short half-life. The Y.sup.3+ and In.sup.3+ complexes of the basic texaphyrin have half-lives for decomplexation and/or ligand decomposition of about 3 weeks in 1:1 methanol-water mixtures. While such stability is adequate for some in vitro or in vivo applications, a greater degree of stability in aqueous solution is desirable. For example, a desired solution-phase shelf life of 2-3 years would facilitate the formulation of texaphyrin metal complexes as pharmaceutical products. The new molecules of the present invention address the problems of demetallation of the texaphyrin metal complex and the susceptibility of the imine bonds of the macrocycle to hydrolysis. The solution to these problems is expected to provide a texaphyrin which has a more desirable shelf life.